Thursday, January 30, 2014

A THOUSAND YEARS OF LIVING




When we walk through speckled landscapes where the shape-shifters dance,
we are walking in the footsteps of the ones who came before.
There are signposts they have left us all across the forest floor.
A thousand years of living - we dont set our sail by chance.

We are walking in the footsteps of the ones who came before.
The Old Ones' songs I hear upon the breeze.
A thousand years of living - we dont set our sail by chance.
I sing wolfsong to the mountains and knock on midnight's door.

The Old Ones' songs I hear upon the breeze,
under my feet the brittle leaves of summer past.
I sing wolfsong to the mountains and knock on midnight's door.
The night air whispers: here you are, at last! 

Under my feet the brittle leaves of summer past.
There are signposts they have left us all across the forest floor.
The night air whispers: here you are, here you are at last!
Walking through a speckled landscape where the shape-shifters dance.

A pantoum, but the lines are too long for the margins, so they dont fall the way they should.

54 comments:

  1. Here you are at last! I love these stanzas that are shape shifters themselves. Time is ripe.

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  2. Sherry, this is a very moving poem. It is amazing, when one stops to think about it, how many have walked the forest before. So true that 'we don't set our sail by chance.' There is much more to life than chance!

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  3. It flows like a lovely song. I too javelin written a pantoum earlier and its effect on the poem is wonderful.

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  4. Like the form and love your thoughtful walk in forest, singing wolf songs to the mountains, knocking on moonlight's door. Beautifully realized, my friend.

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  5. i think it important that we acknowledge those that have come before us, whose footprints we follow...and even when we are carving our own path, their inspiration is often what leads us to do so....

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    1. hey. already been here....but would not miss saying hi from the pantry...smiles.

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  6. I and the shape shifters hear your words, mi amiga. the howling of wolves are harmonizing with your song

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  7. I love the dance of those before us and the wolves reminding us of their path. Wow, Sherry this is a wonder to read and fills me with your spirited dance! Love it!~

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  8. The Old Ones have, like all others, their dark and light dance partners. Sometimes it feels like the dark has ascended, then I read a poem filled with light, like this, and am reminded of balance ~

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  9. We are not alone, if we are open, we can see the footprints on the ground where we walk. We can hear the songs. The night air whispers.

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  10. What a beautiful poem! I felt it was a song, a song that could be sung by Loreena McKennitt for example. I really love her music, and I really loved this poem!

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  11. I do not believe too much in chance either, Sherry! Some things are meant to be. It is our job to decipher why we are where we are, even if it is 'at last'.

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  12. Ah, we can learn so much from the Old Ones, if we only listen. Visiting your poem again today, Sherry, for Poetry Pantry!

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  13. I sing wolfsong to the mountains and knock on midnight's door..... you know... that is a beautiful thing to do... and good to learn from our ancestors as well

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  14. "There are signposts they have left us all across the forest floor."....i so love this poem of gratitude...

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  15. Love, love, love this image of the shape-shifters and as always your magical mystic voice

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  16. Movers are ones who act and not by chance. They trace the steps and set new ones. Great one Sherry!

    Hank

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  17. I love it Sherry ~ Here you are at last, gave me goosebumps ~

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  18. Wonderful piece and a big smile seeing you on the beach.
    ZQ

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  19. This reminds me of the songlines of the aboriginals.. They memorize the paths across the outback in songs.. And thus find their ways through the landscape..

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  20. Even better the second time! "I sing wolfsong to the mountains and knock on midnight's door." Always, always in the footsteps of those that went before.

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  21. Sherry, it is good to honor those who were here before us as there is so much we can still learn
    from their ways. Walking where the shape-shifters
    dance the great wolf spirit always a guide. Enjoyed this so much.

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  22. Thanks for sharing this. I felt I was on a walk with you!

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  23. Regardless of where the lines fall, the poem is beautiful. i remember it, and am happy to read it again. It's one of your best.

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  24. To think of all who came before us, walked the same ground, often I feel their spirit. Beautiful work Sherry.

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  25. So very truly said...
    Each word reemphasing the truth

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  26. Beautifully penned, Sherry. If we realize we walk through the area where people walked before, I think we will walk with awe and understanding we didn't have before.

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  27. the words full of reverence are soul stirring.....

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  28. Sherry, you create an atmosphere that is so engaging & oozing in warmth knowing our fathers survived through the songs we hear from the leaves. We can def learn from the many cold feet that came along & passed by the same ground we are walking today. I love your title. It reminds me of the young Indonesian poet, Chairil Anwar, who says, "I want to live a thousand years", and he does through the beautiful poems he has left & still survives today, a true icon. Thank you for the poem. Smiles.

    - ksm

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  29. What a wonderful song this is - I sing wolfsong to the mountains and knock on midnight's door - my favourite line...and good to see you out there listening and living!

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  30. There is a wonderful sensing those who walked before us. It is inspiring to see ancient gum trees with bark cut away for canoes still living on our roadsides reminding us of our ancient past.

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  31. Those footprints of travellers before, whether traces of running children on sandy shores, or imprints of boots leaving their stamp on muddy lands, are testaments of true attempts to pave the path for followers.

    Really enjoyed this, Sherry. Thanks for sharing!

    Poppy

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  32. "speckled landscapes where the shape-shifters dance" ahhh and that is but the beginning - a song a mantra a prayer of sorts a beauty of a poem - thank you for this jewel dropped shimmering into my morning and into my heart. Stunning.

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  33. we are so arrogant to think it's all new for us... i wrote a piece about the lives settled around a river once... i sense your cry for those who have come before

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  34. Yes, yes Sherry, "the ones have been before..." A core theme I'm fond of fond of returning to myself... And beautifully done here, blending in the presence of nature too - really enjoyed it - one of your best I think Sherry... With Best Wishes

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  35. I kind of love living in the shift :) the transition

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  36. Beautiful write Sherry! This is my favorite line---I sing wolfsong to the mountains and knock on midnight's door.

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  37. I often wonder about those that walked the same steps before me. Who cooked in the kitchen that I now cook in. Slept in the room that I now sleep in. It's such a wonder about those that came before us. I love to sit and think of these things. So, here you are, writing such wonderful words :) I enjoyed this very much, Sherry :)

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  38. This piece was unique and cool!
    Missed you while I was away :-)
    ZQ

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  39. Always a good thing to stop long enough to think on the ones that came before, it is most times a fruitful experience in itself. Nice write Sherry!

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  40. "we dont set our sail by chance."

    I love this line, for I believe it to be true. We do because of something or someone who did before us.

    May we always hear the Old Songs... ♥

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  41. Really enjoyed this. "We don't set our sail by chance," resonates...

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  42. A wonderful write Sherry.
    Your words are things I ponder on myself, often in this very space I am occupying now, wonder what happened in this very space in the history of time, who existed here and what they did and who they were.
    I shall never know yet recognise their imprint is here, forever in the echoes.
    Kind regards
    Anna :o]

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  43. First, Hi Sherry :) nice to see your photo again.

    Second, i love the form.

    Third, i enjoyed the poem very much. A tribute not only to the past but to the present time of your life. Wish people will be more sensitive to the footsteps of the past and could learn a thing or two from it.

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  44. This is so beautiful Sherry. If anyone can sing the wolfsong it is you. And the trees and the forests will chime in to sing too.

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  45. I love coming here only to find that I've already been and am still affected by the same words within your song. Was thinking that maybe the shape-shifters don't so much shift the shape of their own existence, as that of ours, as we knock on midnight's door humming old but new wolf songs?

    Elizabeth

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  46. this is gorgeous, Sherry! too often a form like this seems stilted but your words flow beautifully.

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  47. I love this pantoum! The line 'I sing wolfsong to the mountains and knock on midnight's door.' ~ really takes me in ...and I recall about the doors that will be open soon...after eclipse night on 3/20 maybe...watch out, Sherry! :)x Love

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  48. Beautifully penned Sherry! This is a lovely form.. there have been many before us for sure - but there will be only one ME. :)

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  49. Really nice poem! I find set forms to be so difficult, so always feel amazed at people who manage nicely. I was reading it out loud and this sentence in particular sounds really good, with the sound repetition: "I hear upon the breeze,
    under my feet the brittle leaves".

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  50. Oh Sherry....I love this whole poem...I think it is one of my favorites of yours ever. But, that first sentence...wow, you had me right from the start...that is UTTERLY magical :-)

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  51. Yes... we always walk across the same paths taken by our ancestors.. May their guidance and light follow us!

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